After Xia Qing finished eating, he took the leaf and went to find Xue Fuguang. Along the way, he encountered many villagers. He noticed that most of the villagers were merfolk, the most obvious sign being their translucent earlobes. These merfolk didn’t seem surprised by unfamiliar faces at all; there was none of the fear and inferiority Xia Qing had seen in Ling Guang’s merfolk. Instead, they greeted him warmly and kindly.
Xia Qing held the leaf and nodded slowly at them, starting to wonder if this was the peach blossom spring created by Xue Fuguang specifically to shelter the poor merfolk she encountered outside.
This question was finally asked when Xia Qing saw Xue Fuguang. He surveyed the quiet and cold room, then said, “Senior Sister Xue, did you save all the merfolk in the village?”
On the table were shuttlecocks, needles and thread, dried herbs, and scissors.
Xue Fuguang sat beside the table, her thin hands holding needles, sewing on leaf after leaf.
The window was only slightly open, so the light inside was not sufficient.
She shook her head and said hoarsely, “No. They were saved by disciples of the Shangqing Sect.”
Xia Qing wondered, “Shangqing Sect? How come I’ve never heard of this name? Isn’t it said that all cultivators from around the world gather in Ling Guang?” So why hadn’t he seen them in Ling Guang?
Xue Fuguang, with her poor health and pale complexion, coughed a few times, speaking sarcastically, “Cultivators from around the world? Those people aren’t worthy of being called cultivators; they’re just lackeys of the aristocratic families!”
Xia Qing remained silent, looking at her protruding cheekbones and sickly skin that hadn’t seen sunlight in ages. He got up and opened the window slightly.
The golden sunlight streamed in, casting a glow around Xue Fuguang. She lowered her head, her dark hair covering her frail body. Swallowing the metallic taste of blood, she composed herself and continued sewing, “Have you met Song Guichen?”
Xia Qing replied, “Yes.”
Xue Fuguang asked, “Did he give you the Ananda sword?”
Xia Qing nodded, “Yes.”
Xue Fuguang remarked, “Then he did one good thing.”
Stringing the herbs together, Xue Fuguang turned to Xia Qing and said, “Extend your hand.”
Though puzzled, Xia Qing complied and extended his right hand.
Around his wrist still remained the red string tied by Lou Guan Xue.
Xue Fuguang’s gaze lowered, her tone barely audible as she murmured, “The Buddha’s relic? The precious treasure obtained from the Divine Palace back then, he was actually willing to give it to you.”
Xia Qing asked straightforwardly, “Why can’t I unlock this thing?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Xue Fuguang replied, “Of course, you can’t unlock it. I can’t either. Only the person who put it on you can unlock it.”
Xia Qing thought to himself: Damn it, he really got tricked by Lou Guan Xue.
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Xia Qing asked, puzzled, “What is this?”
Xue Fuguang said, “Something to help stabilize your soul.”
Xia Qing dryly responded with an “Oh,” then quietly stared at her for a few seconds before speaking again, “Am I really your junior martial brother?”
Xue Fuguang smiled. It might have been a long time since she made this expression, as it seemed somewhat stiff, but her solitary and melancholic demeanor softened with this smile, almost appearing gentle.
“You already have the answer in your heart.”
“But the thing you’ve never understood, from childhood to adulthood, is always yourself.”
Xia Qing’s gaze fixed on her, silently, the atmosphere not intimate, and he spoke calmly, “But I don’t know how to use a sword.”
Xue Fuguang replied, “I know. After a hundred years, you don’t even want to touch a sword.”
Xia Qing pondered for a moment, “From your tone, it seems like I had a hard time a hundred years ago. What exactly did your junior martial brother do?”
Xue Fuguang paused for a moment, then said lightly, “When your soul is in another world, can it not be hard? I’m also curious about what you did inside the Divine Palace.” She looked quietly at Xia Qing before adding softly, “But I’m even more curious why you would bring up this matter with me voluntarily. Rejecting the Ananda sword means rejecting everything from a hundred years ago. With your temperament, anything you avoid, you can always turn a blind eye to all clues and truths. So why now? What for?”
What for?
Xia Qing pressed his lips together without speaking, staring blankly at the relic on his wrist.
Xue Fuguang extended her wrist from her lotus-green sleeve, touching the relic on Xia Qing’s wrist. She smiled gently, “For him, is it?”
“For him to take on the Ananda sword, for him to be trapped in the mortal world.”
“Xia Qing, do you know why I wanted to kill him last night? Because that young man’s mind is too deep, too heavy. I was afraid you would be manipulated by him.”
“You see, how clever he is. Starting from this relic, you’re destined to not be an outsider beside him.”
At this moment, Xia Qing felt the relic on his wrist burning, as if it had just been taken from the body of the Buddha, carrying the scorching heat of fiery ashes, piercing his soul violently.
He looked up, but collided with Xue Fuguang’s gentle and calm eyes.
Xue Fuguang’s sigh dispersed in the dust-filled golden light. She slowly said, “He even talks to you about divine light, seemingly without reservation, intimate. But do you really understand him? Can you perceive his hatred? You trust him so much, being defenseless around him, you probably haven’t realized that deep down, that young man is not a good person…”
Xia Qing looked at her quietly, interrupting her, “No, I can perceive it.”
Xue Fuguang was slightly taken aback.
Xia Qing toyed with the relic, speaking calmly, “I can see his hatred.”
“I’ve been by his side for so long, observed him for so long. I know he’s not a good person.”
“I know that despite his appearance of indifference, he’s actually extremely arrogant. Arrogant to the point of… disregarding money and power, disregarding emotions and desires, and even disregarding human life.”
“In fact, Lou Guan Xue is more like an outsider than I am, detached from the mundane world yet carrying deep-seated and profound hatred.”
“I don’t know what he hates. But you’re right, even if I knew every step he took before, or even knew what his next step would be, I still wouldn’t understand him.”
“But, Senior Sister Xue,” Xia Qing paused for a moment and asked, “Why do I have to understand him?”
Xia Qing hadn’t spoken so much for a long time, especially not to a relatively emotionally complex stranger.
He thought for a moment, originally intending to say, “Our relationship isn’t close enough for me to understand him deeply.” But when the words reached his lips, he remembered their current pretense of being “married” to Lou Guan Xue and hesitated, silently changing his words with a guilty conscience, “Um, it’s better for people to maintain a bit of distance between each other.”
After listening, Xue Fuguang remained silent for a long time, her gray-white hair falling quietly in the dim light of the room. She was eccentric and aloof to outsiders, but unusually gentle and patient with Xia Qing.
After a long while, Xue Fuguang let out a sigh-like laugh from her throat. She spoke softly, “Yes, you can see. You must be able to see. I’ve been confused. I almost forgot what path you’re following after a hundred years.”
“All beings experience joy and sorrow…” She drifted off for a moment, murmuring, “How could you not see it?”
Xia Qing wasn’t accustomed to sharing his inner thoughts with others, feeling a bit annoyed, but not wanting to show it in front of Xue Fuguang. So, he chose to lower his head, his eyelashes drooping, his face expressionless as he played with the red string on his wrist.
He rarely kept things hidden in his heart; whatever he dreamed or thought about, he would directly tell others. It was just that he didn’t care much about those things, which didn’t mean he enjoyed sharing his true feelings with others.
Xue Fuguang’s voice, as light as smoke, slowly entered Xia Qing’s ears as she said, “So, you’ve seen his hatred, seen his arrogance, seen that he’s not a good person. Have you seen yourself clearly?”
Snap.
In a careless swipe of his finger, his nail left a shallow white mark on the back of his hand.
Xia Qing couldn’t describe how he felt. He paused for a moment, then raised his head, “Isn’t that what I’m trying to do?”
Since he took the leaf from under the broken bridge, he had already given up and compromised with himself. Later, he was further influenced by Lou Guan Xue, making even the last card of the system shaky, forcing him to reluctantly accept everything.
Xue Fuguang said, “I’m not talking about your identity, but your feelings towards him.”
Xia Qing was dumbfounded. “Huh?!”
How did the conversation veer in this direction?!
Xue Fuguang asked, “Knowing he’s not a good person, aren’t you afraid he’ll manipulate you?”
Xia Qing hesitated for a moment, then quipped, “Senior Sister Xue, maybe you don’t know, but he used me the first time we met.”
This time it was Xue Fuguang who was stunned. She spoke each word lightly, yet it seemed incredibly difficult for her to say, “He used you the first time, and yet you stayed by his side.”
Xia Qing: “…………” Damn, why does this feel more awkward the more we talk about it? He isn’t playing out of a masochistic love drama.
Thinking quickly, Xia Qing spoke up, “It wasn’t exactly using me. I couldn’t leave him because of my soul, and I couldn’t stand seeing him kill, so we made a deal.”
Xue Fuguang asked, “But now, you have a physical body. Why can’t you leave?”
Xia Qing was speechless, unable to come up with a reason, so he stammered, “Uh, well, we’re already married, right? ‘A day as husband and wife creates a hundred days of gratitude.'”
Xue Fuguang said, “Today, I made some inquiries specifically. It turns out that the Lou family now has only one descendant left, which serves them right. He’s probably the missing new emperor of the Chu Kingdom. I haven’t heard of any empress in the Chu Kingdom.”
Xia Qing: “……”
Oh, so I’ve been found out.
Xia Qing decided to come clean and said, “Now that I have a physical form, I don’t want to leave. Mainly, I have nowhere else to go. I’ve gotten used to being around him. And, to be honest, although Lou Guan Xue occasionally acts crazy, he’s actually pretty good to hus friends. Just don’t provoke him… He’s not a good person, but he doesn’t kill easily.” Or perhaps, his arrogance was so extreme that he seemed disdainful even of killing.
Xia Qing quickly changed the subject and pulled out the withered leaf from his pocket.
“Oh, you wanted me to bring the leaf, right? Here it is. Do you want it back? I can return it to you intact.” Please take it!
Xue Fuguang took the withered leaf from his hand and felt the edge of the leaf. “Do you really think I can easily kill him if I wanted to? He has divine power, and I don’t even know how much chance I’d have.”
Xia Qing: “???”
Xue Fuguang said, “Xia Qing, take out the Ananda sword.”
Xia Qing: “?????”
Thank you for the chapter. ♥
That conversation had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster and I’m here for the ride LOL Im so glad to finally get a peek at not only Xia Qing’s past, but also more clarity on his feelings towards Lou Guan Xue 😊 I’m hoping Lou Guan Xue will also start showing more of his heart to him… (* ´ ▽ ` *) Thank you for the chapters!!
Thank u for the chapter. This is getting interesting.
Siento que me estoy perdiendo algo, pero no sé que es ¿?
Aunque estoy muy feliz con este desarrollo~